Training on RIMS+ Completion Survey for IMPP in Tra Vinh and Ha Tinh

Under the agreement with APMAS and Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), mentoring and on-the-job training was designed and implemented for officers of IMPP project in Tra Vinh and Ha Tinh in conducting their completion survey and at the same time improving the capacity for local officers. The trainings were held in Tra Vinh between 19 – 26 March 2012 and from 3 – 10 May 2012 in Ha Tinh. A total of 65 delegates of these two provinces participated in the training courses.

The courses aim at enhancing capacity of RIMS and RIMS plus impact evaluation, questionnaire, sampling strategy, gender issues in RIMS Plus as well as basic techniques for entry and analysis of data. For those topics, it was selective:

Understand the target and signification of the RIMS Plus Completion Impact Survey

Interview and collect data properly

Mainstreaming gender sensitivity questions into the questionnaire

Gender sensitizing the survey and questionnaire

Gender case study methodology

Practice data entry and analysis

Conduct impact survey independently by local project staff in Tra Vinh and Ha Tinh without or a few supports from DEPOCEN

The approach taken in conducting the training course is lecture cum hands-on practicing. The participant officers will first attend the training lectures, perform the exercises and afterwards actually carry out the survey themselves without or with a few supports from DEPOCEN consultants. As such, DEPOCEN had developed a very practical survey training materials and schedule so that the participants could understand and perform the survey right after the training. Moreover, targeted for the completion survey conducting after the course, a whole day was spent to field-test in order to help participants acquaint with actual unexpected situations.

After the field-test, all enumerators came back to discuss their experiences and lesson-learnt from individual actual cases. That time was used to present participants’ opinions, questions and comments on each question in the questionnaire which then was revised and finalized appropriate with actual local situation.

According to self-assessments before and after the training courses by participants themselves, the training course was completed its missions successfully for most of trainees have become knowledgeable about RIMS+ survey and survey methodology as well as data processing tools. In addition, through actual lesson-learnt at classes, both trainers and trainees gained precious experiences in working on IFAD projects. For upcoming IFAD projects in other provinces, experiences and lesson-learnt from Ha Tinh and Tra Vinh will be very useful to apply to solve unexpected problems.